Go to AfricaBib home

Go to AfricaBib home AfricaBib Go to database home

bibliographic database
Line
Previous page New search

The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here

Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Ndola Crash and the Death of Dag Hammarskjöld
Author:Rösiö, Bengt
Year:1993
Periodical:Journal of Modern African Studies
Volume:31
Issue:4
Pages:661-671
Language:English
Geographic terms:Congo (Democratic Republic of)
Katanga
Subjects:separatism
UN
traffic accidents
international relations
Ethnic and Race Relations
Politics and Government
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/161297
Abstract:When Dag Hammarskjöld flew to Ndola in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) on 17 September 1961 it was to meet Moïse Tshombe, the self-styled President of secessionist Katanga (Zaire), in order to bring about a ceasefire to the fighting that was going on between his soldiers and those of the United Nations, especially in Elisabethville (now Lubumbashi). After the Secretary-General's plane had crashed, the press jumped to the conclusion that it had been shot down. This article examines this myth, as well as other theories about the crash and explanations which have been given for the absence of an immediate search-and-rescue operation. The author argues that Controlled Flight Into Terrain (i.e. a judgement error on the part of the pilot as to altitude due to sensory/optical illusions) appears to be the most probable reason for the crash. Note, ref.
Views
Cover